NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Bureau of Cannabis Control (Bureau) proposes to amend and readopt emergency regulations necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or general welfare.

How the heck can our industry follow and potentially abide by all of this nonsense when the rule makers keep moving the goalposts. How many lives will be saved by this hysteria mongering approach to rule making? one maybe someday! This is clearly plant racism. Why can an addictive toxic poison, AKA sugar. Which kills thousands annually be available everywhere including school vending machines have no rules and our plant needs 217 pages of regulations with references to penalties and violations no less than 150 times. I will bet than when all of the existing cannabusiness persons are put down by this made to fail regulatory scheme and the corporations take over, they will lobby for the rules to be lifted as the plant is so safe for use now!

Gary Null, PhD

Progressive Radio Network, July 10, 2015

There is an unseen culprit hiding in the shadows, killing at least 180,000 people annually. It is a toxic poison contained in many of the foods and beverages that we commonly eat. A toxin that has been implicated in causing cancer, diabetes, heart disease, lowered cognitive function, addiction, depression, and obesity. The magicians and alchemist of the corporate food industry have cleverly disguised this ingredient and sung it praises. If you are waiting for mainstream media to undertake an in-depth investigative report on this topic you will be waiting a long time.

.Well the BCC released the regs and called for comments, here are mine.

BUREAU OF CANNABIS CONTROL PROPOSED READOPTION OF EMERGENCY REGULATIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD
Comments by: George Bianchini
As to,
§ 5038. Disaster Relief
(a) If a licensee is unable to comply with any licensing requirements due to a disaster, the licensee may notify the Bureau of this inability to comply and request relief from the specific licensing
(f) For the purposes of this section, “disaster” means fire, flood, storm, tidal wave, earthquake, or similar public calamity, whether or not resulting from natural causes.

My comment related to 5038-Disaster Relief, Is that Chaos should be added to list F.
The BCC in its Rules and Regulation and that will continue with the “ PROPOSED READOPTION OF EMERGENCY REGULATIONS” has created extreme chaos in the roll out of prop 64. It has led to the proliferation of the Illicit cannabis market which has harmed the very concept of the people who voted for its passage

§ 5043. Licensee Employee Badge Requirement
All agents, officers, or other persons acting for or employed by a licensee shall display a laminated or plastic-coated identification badge issued by the licensee at all times while engaging in commercial cannabis activity. The identification badge shall, at a minimum, include the licensee’s “doing business as” name and license number, the employee’s first name, an employee number exclusively assigned to that employee for identification purposes, and a color photograph of the employee that clearly shows the full front of the employee’s face and that is at least 1 inch in width and 1.5 inches in height.

This rule should not apply to the Medical licensee’s. It violates HIPAA •Retaliation and waiver: Retaliation can’t be taken out against a patient who exercises their rights under the Privacy Rule. Patients cannot be made to waive their Privacy Rule rights as a means of obtaining treatment, payment, or enrollment.

§ 5044. Video Surveillance System
(f)
Retailers shall also record point-of-sale areas and areas where cannabis goods are displayed for sale on the video surveillance system. At each point-of-sale location, camera placement must allow for
the recording of the facial features of any person purchasing or selling cannabis goods, or any person in the retail area, with sufficient clarity to determine identity.
Bureau of Cannabis Control Emergency Regulations Readopt Text – Readopt 2018 Page 36 of 122

This rule should not apply to the Medical side. It violates HIPAA •Retaliation and waiver: Retaliation can’t be taken out against a patient who exercises their rights under the Privacy Rule. Patients cannot be made to waive their Privacy Rule rights as a means of obtaining treatment, payment, or enrollment.

§ 5048. Track and Trace System

§ 5049. Track and Trace Reporting

§ 5314. Shipping Manifest

Not even possible as the State has violated the Jan 1st 2018 implementation date of the rules and regulations. Language should read “start date 180 days after full implimentation and successful field and beta testing of software. The only reason for the delay is the extreme over regulatory scheme to protect society from a plant that never hurt anybody that didn’t abuse it.

§5407. Sale of Non-Cannabis Products on Premises
A retailer may sell non-cannabis products on a licensed premises if the licensee remains in compliance with any city, county, and state laws or regulations related to those products. This provision excludes alcohol and alcohol products and tobacco and tobacco products from sale at any licensed premises.

This is vague and counter to BCC’s written interpretation to date. Needs more clarification. Is 5407 the complete list of excluded products that can be sold on a licensed premise? See: email from BCC, below Many Cannabis Cultivators have shifted to the medical CBD side of the same genus of plant “Hemp” yet the BCC won’t allow it to be sold in cannabis dispensaries. This made to fail ruling will leave a stain on the industry that dispensaries just sell recreational weed. And also violates:
Business & Professions Code 26013.
(a) Licensing authorities shall make and prescribe reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement, administer and enforce their respective duties under this division in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. Those rules and regulations shall be consistent with the purposes and intent of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act.

Email from BCC
At this time, CBD derived from Hemp is not regulated by the Bureau of Cannabis Control (Bureau) and is not allowed to be sold in businesses licensed by the Bureau.

Best Regards,
Bureau Staff
Bureau of Cannabis Control
(833) 768-5880http://www.bcc.ca.govhttps://cannabis.ca.gov
The above e-mail from BCC also goes against: SECTION 3. PURPOSE AND INTENT.
(aa) Allow industrial hemp to be grown as an agricultural product, and for agricultural or academic research, and regulated separately from the strains of cannabis with higher delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentrations.
aa-talks of regulating, not exclusion from the prop64 rules as the law applied to and discussed both.

§ 5717. Moisture Content and Water Activity Testing
(a)The laboratory shall analyze a sample of cannabis to determine the level of water activity and the percentage of moisture content.
(d)The laboratory shall analyze edible cannabis products to determine the level of water activity. A solid or semi-solid edible cannabis product shall be deemed to have passed water activity testing if the water activity does not exceed 0.85 Aw. The laboratory shall report the result of the water activity test on the COA and indicate “pass” or “fail” on the COA.

This completely disallows sick people from using CBD infused Water and Infused juice products. And thereby is in violation of:
Business & Professions Code 26013.
(a) Licensing authorities shall make and prescribe reasonable rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement, administer and enforce their respective duties under this division in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. Those rules and regulations shall be consistent with the purposes and intent of the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act.
As well as:
Business & Professions Code 26014.
(a) The bureau shall convene an advisory committee to advise the licensing authorities on the development of standards and regulations pursuant to this division, including best practices and guidelines that protect public health and safety while ensuring a regulated environment for commercial cannabis activity that does not impose such barriers so as to perpetuate, rather than reduce and eliminate, the illicit market for cannabis.

§ 5722. Foreign Material Testing

(e)A sample shall be deemed to have passed the foreign material testing if the presence of foreign material does not exceed:
(1)1/4 of the total sample area covered by sand, soil, cinders, or dirt; (really)
(2)1/4 of the total sample area covered by mold; (they put this in writing)
(3)1 insect fragment, 1 rodent hair, or 1 count mammalian excreta per 3.0 grams; or
(4) 1/4 of the total sample area covered by an imbedded foreign material.

It is these kind of rules, that are “designed to fail” that are in violation of:
Business & Professions Code 26014.
(a) The bureau shall convene an advisory committee to advise the licensing authorities on the development of standards and regulations pursuant to this division, including best practices and guidelines that protect public health and safety while ensuring a regulated environment for commercial cannabis activity that does not impose such barriers so as to perpetuate, rather than reduce and eliminate, the illicit market for cannabis.

This is the first paragraph of the text the voters of California saw on the prop 64 ballot.

The Attorney General of California has prepared the following title and summary of the chief purpose and points of the proposed measure:

D. Currently, children under the age of 18 can just as easily purchase marijuana on the black market as adults can. By legalizing marijuana, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act will incapacitate the black market, and move marijuana purchases into a legal structure with strict safeguards against children accessing it.
Emergency BCC regulations are helping the Black market thrive by establishing rules designed to fail and will drive both the consumers as well as the commercial market to continue to do business as they did when Marijuana was illegal, is clearly in violation of the spirit of the law as well as:

Business & Professions Code 26014.
(a) The bureau shall convene an advisory committee to advise the licensing authorities on the development of standards and regulations pursuant to this division, including best practices and guidelines that protect public health and safety while ensuring a regulated environment for commercial cannabis activity that does not impose such barriers so as to perpetuate, rather than reduce and eliminate, the illicit market for cannabis.

H. By bringing marijuana into a regulated and legitimate market, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act creates a transparent and accountable system. This will help police crackdown on the underground black market that currently benefits violent drug cartels and transnational gangs, which are making billions from marijuana trafficking and jeopardizing public safety.
The BCC emergency regulatory scheme in place now will not help solve this problem in two ways.
(a) The doubling of cannabis pricing through taxes, fees and licensing tiers, will raise more money than the cartels ever made.
(b) And actual law enforcement creates more harm to society than the cartels ever did. (here)

I. The Adult Use of Marijuana Act creates a comprehensive regulatory structure in which every marijuana business is overseen by a specialized agency with relevant expertise. The Bureau of Marijuana Control, housed in the Department of Consumer Affairs, will oversee the whole system and ensure a smooth transition to the legal market, with licenses issued beginning in 2018. The Department of Consumer Affairs will also license and oversee marijuana retailers, distributors, and micro-businesses. The Department of Food and Agriculture will license and oversee marijuana cultivation, ensuring it is environmentally safe. The Department of Public Health will license and oversee manufacturing and testing, ensuring consumers receive a safe product. The State Board of Equalization will collect the special marijuana taxes, and the Controller will allocate the revenue to administer the new law and provide the funds to critical investments.

There is no evidence that any of the agencies involved have the slightest amount of expertise or the prerequisite knowledge require for their positions. There are no industry experts on the BCC board of directors, not one. Having attended all of the public events as well as the BCC board meetings I was shocked that the board as well as staff were completely ignorant of the subject they were making rules for, which is why our industry is in a state of CHAOS. The continuance of this Bad Business practice will lead to the failure of the will of the voters, and most certainly will not ensure a smooth transition to the legal market

SECTION 3. PURPOSE AND INTENT.

The purpose of the Adult Use of Marijuana Act is to establish a comprehensive system to legalize, control and regulate the cultivation, processing, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of nonmedical marijuana, including marijuana products, for use by adults 21 years and older, and to tax the commercial growth and retail sale of marijuana.It is the intent of the People in enacting this Act to accomplish the following:
(a) Take non-medical marijuana production and sales out of the hands of the illegal market and bring them under a regulatory structure that prevents access by minors and protects public safety, public health, and the environment.

(n) Deny access to marijuana by persons younger than 21 years old who are not medical marijuana patients.

(s) Tax the growth and sale of marijuana in a way that drives out the illicit market for marijuana and discourages use by minors, and abuse by adults.

(u) Prevent illegal production or distribution of marijuana.

(v) Prevent the illegal diversion of marijuana from California to other states or countries or to the illegal market.

(x) Reduce barriers to entry into the legal, regulated market.

All of the above required line items listed under SECTION 3. PURPOSE AND INTENT. Have not been accomplished nor will they be under the proposed rules and regulation prescribed by the BCC.
They sound reasonable for an industry outsider. But in reality most of the rules are “cut and paste” from other industries like tobacco and alcohol. To put a harmless plant (other than the illegality of it) into the same category with products that kill 100’s of thousands yearly, is disingenuous to the wishes of the citizens who voted to legalize it. I believe that safe and sound rules need to be made and enforced. Keeping Cannabis out of the hands of children is common sense. That goes for all psychoactive products like Tobacco, Alcohol and Sugar.
.

A footnote:
While I believe the BCC under the guidance of Lori Ajax has been working very hard to produce a regulatory process, the results so far if left to be implemented will be the most efficient and profitable legislation byproduct ever produced to embolden the illicit cannabis market. The whole process and the over 200 pages of rules for a single plant the public has deemed legal needs to be scrapped. The rules should not require more than a few pages in length. Or at least on par with the rules for far more dangerous as well as deadly products on the market now, like sugar, salt, peanut products, soft drinks, trans-fat products. The rules as they are now are not conducive to complying with the text or the will of the people on the law they voted for. Failure to address this will almost surely require the next new Governor to clean house. I believe it was Gavin Newsom (the only high ranking politician) to endorse prop 64. At several events that he spoke on the matter, he spoke of the safety of children as his number one concern, as it should be for all of us. He stated more than once that a good regulatory system that eliminated the black market was the only way to accomplish this. What we have now is the exact opposite, which is a failure to comply with the law, caused by very board members who never publicly agreed with, and in fact disagreed with, by lack of involvement in the construction of the law. We are just wasting time with this board, based on severe violations of Business & Professions Code 26014 as well as Code 26013. They need to be replaced with folks that know what their doing.